Sorting apparatus



March 12, 1946. E. w. LARSEN 2,396,378

SORIING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 22, 1942 6 Sheets-Shet 1 FIG;

M/Vf/VTOR 5 W ZARSE/V March 12, 1946, E, W LARSEN 2,396,378

SORTING APPARATUS Fild Dec. 22, 1942 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 lA/VE/VTO/P E W LARaff/v 7,4 x M ATTORNEY March 1946. EQW. LARSEN 2,396,378

SORTI-NG APPARATUS Filed Dec. 22, 1942 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 40 6'0 80 I00I20 /40 I I80 200 220 E40 260 280 600 820 340860 am/144 GEAR 56'TRANSFER (MM GA GlA/G CAM RING 7.6;

March 12, 1946.

E. W. LARSEN SORTING APPARA'fUS Filed Dec. 22, 1942 G SheetS-Sheet 5 WZA RSf/V A 'TaR/VEY March 12, 1946. E. w. LARSEN SORTING APPARATUS FiledDec. 22, 1942 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR E W ZARSEN B) 4. K M Arm/awnPatented Mar. 12, 1946 UITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,396,378 SORTINGAPPARATUS Application December 22, 1942, Serial No. 469,785-

8 Claims.

This invention relates to sorting apparatus and more particularly to anapparatus for measuring the thickness of articles, marking them withindicia to indicate their thickness, and sorting them into groups inaccordance with their thickness.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus forexpeditiously sorting articles in accordance with a characteristicthereof.

In accordance with one embodiment of the in vention. insulators are fedfrom a magazine in automatic succession to an indexing turntable, whichcarries them around to a plurality of gagstations at which theinsulators are engaged by gaging apparatus which measures a dimension ofthem and if they fall within predetermined dimensional limits, initiatesthe operation of mechanisms for feeding the insulators off the turntableinto magazines wherein the insulators are marked to indicate the limitswithin which they fall.

A better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to thefollowing detailed description when considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an apparatus embodying the present inventionand designed to gage the thickness of irregularly shaped insulators;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of an insulator of the type gaged in the apparatusand marked with notches to indicate the thickness class in which itfalls:

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional View through the apparatustaken substantially along the l ne 3-3 of Fig. l in the direction of thearrows;

4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of a portion of the apparatusshowing a supply magazine from which the insulators are fed and showingtwo of the receiving magazines to which gaged insulators are fed fromthe turntable, parts of the mechanism being broken away to more clearlyillustrate those parts directly beneath them;

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially alongthe line 5-5 of Fig. 4

tional view taken substantially along the line 8-8 of Fig. 4 in thedirection of the arrows and showing the details of one of the gagingmechanisms and its associated magazine, together with a portion of themechanism for marking insulators as they are fed to the receivingmagazines;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along theline 9-9 of Fig. 8 in the direction of the arrows and showing details ofthe gaging mechanism; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line Ill-l3 of Fig. 8 in the direction of the arrows showingdetails of the mechanism for marking an insulator and stacking it in thereceiving magazine.

In the drawings, particular reference being had to Figs. 1 and 3, thereis shown an apparatus for gaging step by step insulators l5 of the typeshown in Fig. 2. These insulators l5, as most clearly shown in Fig. 2,are arcuate in shape and vary in thickness as much as The insulators l5are stacked in a supply magazine It mounted on the upper surface of ahousing I! and may be fed into slots l8- l8 in a turntable l9 (Figs. 3and 4) in a manner to be described more in detail hereinafter. Theturntable I 9 is indexed step by step and will carry an insulator l5around with it until the insulator arrives opposite one of a pluralityof receiving magazines, all of which are of the same construction. Whenan insulator arrives at a position about the turntable [9, where it isgaged and should be fed into one of the receiving magazines 20, it isdriven into position beneath the magazine by a blast of air and willthen be forced upwardly past notching devices to cut notches 2! (Fig. 2)in the insulator to indicate in which thickness group the insulatorfalls. The turntable I!) (Fig. 3) is mounted on the upper end of asleeve 22, which is rotatable about a central hollow spindle 23. Thespindle 23 is mounted in a base plate 24 and has its lower end pluggedby meansof a plug member 25. The base 24 is circular in configurationand has attached to its outer edge a housing 26, which encloses themoving parts of the mechanism. Suitably mounted on the base plate 24 isa driving motor 21, which,

through a V-belt 28, drives a speed reducer 29.

The speed reducer 29, in turn, drives a countershaft 38 through theaction of a chain 3i engaging sprockets 32 and 33 on the output shaft 3of the speed reducer and the countershaft 39, respectively. Thecountershaft 3D is journalled in a r f bearings 35 and 36 suitablysecured to the housing 26 and carries at its lower end a cam 31 be movedand will index the table I9.

for controlling the supply of air to the hollow spindle The cam 31 hascooperating with it a cam roller 38 mounted on the control arm 39 of anair valve 40, which is supplied with air under pressure from anysuitable source (not shown) and which, upon operation by the control arm39, will direct a blast of air through a pipe iI to the central bore 52of the hollow spindle.

Fixed to an annular shoulder'50 on the spindle 3 is a spider M, whichserves to brace the housing 26. The countershaft 3i] extends upwardlythrough the spider or bracing plate SI and has keyed to it a Genevadrive 52, the drive roller 53 of which is positioned to engage in slots54 in a Geneva gear 55. The Geneva gear 55 encircles and is keyed to thesleeve 22 by means of a key 56, whereby, when motion is imparted to theGeneva gear 55 by the Geneva drive 52, the sleeve 22 will The key 56 ispositioned between an annular shoulder portion of the Geneva gear 55 andthe sleeve 22. This shoulder portion 51 serves as a brake drum forcooperation with a brake band 58, which encircles the shoulder portion51 and has its ends connected to a threaded member59. The threadedmember 59 extends through an aperture 60 in a bracket SI which is, inturn, mounted upon the spider iii. A thumb nut 62 is threaded onto thethreaded member 59 and a coil spring 63 interposed between the thumb nut62 and the bracket 6i whereby any desired amount of braking pressure maybe applied through the brake band 58 to the shoulder El to preventaccidental displacement of the table I9.

In addition to the cam 31 and Geneva drive 52, the counter shaft 39carries a pinion 64 and a cam 65. The pinion 64 meshes with an internalring gear 55., which is fixed, ,by means of machine screws 61, on theunderside of a disc 68. The disc 63 extends outwardly from va collar orhub 59, which surrounds the sleeve 22 and is freely rotatable thereabouton bearings 1!] and II. The collar or hub 69 carries an annular cam 72,which surrounds it and serves to actuate a cam roller 13, which drives agaging mechanism, designated generally by the numeral 14. Mounted on thedisc 88 adjacent the periphery thereof is an annular cam ring l5 havingcooperating therewith a cam roller 16, which drives a stacking andnotching mechanism designated generally by the 51 numeral ll. Within thehousing 26, there are provided eight sets of gaging mechanisms it, eachset having a cam roller 73 for imparting reciprocation to it undercontrol of the annular cam 72 and there are nine of the stacking andnotching mechanisms l'i adapted to be actuated by cam rollers 75. InFig. 3, there is shown a bracing ring I8, which extends around insidethe housing 23 and is mounted on brackets 19. This bracing ring ispositioned just slightly above the upper surface of the disc 63 andserves to support a plurality of brackets 88, of which there are nineprovided for supporting nine stacking and notching mechanisms 'I! andthe eight gaging mechanisms i l. The gaging mechanisms 74 and thenotching and stacking mechanisms Ti are all of exactly the sameconstruction and one of each of these units will be described more indetail hereinafter.

As described hereinbefore, the hollow spindle 23 is provided with acentral bore 42 and the lower end of the spindle is plugged with a plugmember 25. The upper end of the spindle 23 has threaded into it a rod 90having a shoulder 9! formed intermediate its ends. At its upper end, therod 9! has attached to it a hub member 92, from which extend a pluralityof spokes 93, whereby the rod may be rotated. Surrounding the rod 9tintermediate the hub 92 and shoulder 9! is an annular plate 96 having asleeve 95 attached to it by means of machine screws 85. The sleeve 95has formed integrally with it a cover plate 9?, which serves tocooperate with the slots 28 inthe turntable I9 to form passageways inwhich the insulators I5 may be carried around the spindle 23 and fromwhich the insulators I5 may be ejected by an air blast. The sleeve 95 isheld against rotation around the spindle 23 by a key member 93 mountedin the sleeve and extending into a key slot 99 formed in the upper endof the spindle 23. By the provision of the just described structure, thecover plate 97 may be raised by operating the spokes 93 manually todrive the rod 99 in the proper direction and the cover plate 9'! will beraised straight up away from the turntable I9 in the event thatinsulators jam in the slots I8. However, the normal operating positionof the cover plate $7 is as shown in Fig. 3, where a plurality of slotsI86 cut in the lower face of the cover plate 5'1 cooperate withapertures IIlI (Figs. 1 and 3) to direct a blast of air blown into thelower end of the spindle out through the slots Iliii into the slots isfor blowing insulators I5 into selected ones of the magazines 20. Thereare provided two of the apertures Iill in the spindle 23 and theseapertures communicate with an annular chamber IE2 formed by a shoulderI63 cut into the lower face of the plate 9'! and an annular plate wemounted on the spindle 23.

Cooperating with the cam 65 (Figs. 3 and 4) is a cam roller I II}mounted upon the free end of cam arm II I, which is fixed to avertically extending shaft H2. The shaft H2 has fixed at its upper end aforked lever H3, in the outer forked end of which there is positioned aroller I I4 and has attached to its lower end an arm I 36 (Fig. 3), towhich a spring I35 is attached for normally urging the shaft E I2 torotate counter-clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 4. The roller I'i i isfreely rotatable about a stud shaft i I5 fixed in a slide H8 (Figs. 5and 6). The slide H6 is slidable in ways II? and IIS formed by platesIIS and I29 and plates Ill and I22 set flush with the upper surface ofthe housing I7. Attached to the upper surface of the slide H5 is aknife-edged feeding member I23, which is adapted to engage the bottominsulator I5 of a stack of insulators in the supply magazine IS. Thesupply magazine It is mounted on the upper surface of the housing I? bymeans of a pair of brackets Iii l and I25. The bracket I25, in turn,supports a pair of angle plates I26 and IZl, which serve as bearingsurfaces against which the insulators I5 are guided in the magazine. Thebracket I 24 supports a bearing plate I 28, which engages the roundedsurface of the insulators I5 and guides them as they are held in thesupply magazine IE5. The upper ends of the angle plates I26, I21 andbearing plate I28 are banded together by a U- shaped band I29. Themagazine thus formed is adapted to support the supply of insulators I5which are to be gaged and the plates I2I and I22 are cut out to permitthe insulators I I5 to assume a position where the bottom threeinsulators are beneath the upper surface of the housing ii. The plateI22, as seen most clearly in Fig. 4, extends an appreciable distanceacross the left end of the magazine and carries, as shown most clearlyin Fig. 5, a clamp member I39, which serves to hold a soft rubberstripper I3I in position at the exit end of the magazine. Thisconstruction is provided since theinsulators being gaged in theapparatus may vary as much as 100% in thickness and, accordingly, norigid head or orifice could be provided at the exit end of the magazine.However, the upper surface of the feed member I23 is positioned only avery short distance above the surface of the plates I2! and I22 on whichthe insulators rest so that only one insulator at a time will be pickedoif the bottom of the magazine I6 for each reciprocation of the feedingmember I23 and the soft rubber stripper I3! will prevent more than oneinsulator at a time from being fedout of the supply magazine It and intothe slot I8 on the turntable I9.

Insulators I5, which are fed into the slot I8 on the turntable I9, will,when the turntable is indexed through the Geneva drive 52, be carried ina counter-clockwise direction to the various gaging mechanisms I4, whichwill gage the article and control which of the receiving magazines 29will receive the article when the blast of air under pressure isdirected through the hollow spindle 23. The gaging mechanisms I4 are allof the same construction, as pointed out hereinbefore, and only one ofthem will be described in detail, but it should be understood that inthe travel of the insulator on the turntable I9, it will first beassociated with a receiving magazine 20 adapted to receive thoseinsulators which are oversize and will then be gaged successively by thenext succeeding seven gaging mechanisms 14 and may be finally directedinto a receiving magazine 29, which receives the undersize insulators.The travel of an insulator I5 around with the turntable I9 may beinterrupted at any one of the receiving magazines when the insulator isfound to fall within the group that is to be received in that particularmagazine 20. Thus, the insulators will, if oversize, be directed intothe first magazine 29 in a counter-clockwise direction wherebymicrometric adjustments may be made of the position of the arm I48 withrespect to the bracket I59 and, correspondingly, the position of thecontact actuator I52 with respect to its associated actuator rod I53 maybe very closely adjusted. The actuator rod I53 is positioned within abore I55 formed in the gage supportfrom the supply magazine I5 and ifthe insulator is undersize, it will be carried all the way around to thelast receiving magazine 2!]. An insulator which, during the gagingoperations, is found to fall within one of the seven acceptabledimensional limits, will be directed into a receiving magazine 29corresponding to that particular range of dimensions for which itsgaging mechanism has been set.

The gaging mechanism I4, which, as pointed out hereinbefore, is mountedon a bracket 89, includes a supporting framework I49 fixed to thebracket 89. hearing arms I4I and I 42 extending from it, in the outerend of which a gage supporting assembly I43 is slidable. ihe gagesupporting assembly has pivotally mounted upon it a highly sensitiveelectrical contact-making device I44 mounted in a housing I45. Thehousing I 45 is provided with an upwardly extending arm I 45 pivotallymounted on the gage supporting assembly I43 by means of a pivot pin I41. The housing I45 also has extending from it to the right (Fig. 8) anadjustment arm I48, which has extending through it an adjustment screwI49. The adjustment screw I49 is threaded into a bracket I59 fixed tothe gage supporting assembly I 43 and there is a spring I5I interposedbetween the arm I48 and the bracket I59, which normally tends to pushthe arm I48 away from the bracket I59 to carry a contact actuator I52away from an actuator rod I53. The adjusting screw I49 is provided witha. knurled head I54,

The framework I49 has a pair of ing assembly I43. The bore I55 is heldin an extending portion I56 of the assembly I43 which cooperates with adownwardly extending projection I5'I of the assembly to slidably supportthe entire assembly for movement in the bearing arms MI and I42. Theprojection I51 carries the cam roller I3 freely rotatable at its lowerend and a pair of springs I58 and I59 seated in sockets I 66 and I5 I,respectively, formed in the bearing arm I4I normally urge the entiregage supporting assembly I43 upwardly. The springs I58 and I59 areseated in the sockets I65 and IBI and engage across head I62 formedintegrally with the extending portion I55 of the assembly I43 and thesprings are maintained in their proper position by pins I53 and IE4,respectively, which are fitted into the cross head I62 and extenddownwardly therefrom, the springs I 58 and I59 surrounding the pinsthroughout the entire length of the pins. In this manner, the gagesupporting assembly I43 is normally urged upwardly and will be moveddownwardly by the annular cam 12 against the action of the springs I58and I59.

Mounted upon the cross head I52 is a gage plate I55 carrying three gagepins I 55, I61 and I68 adapted to engage the insulator I5 at spacedpoints along its undersurface. The pin I 5'! is fixed to the gage plateI65, whereas the pins I66 and IE3 extend through the plate I55 and arefreely slidable in the cross head I62. The cross head IE2 is providedwith a pair of pockets I59 and III] for receiving springs Ill and I12,respectively, which surround the reduced shanks of the gage pins I65 andI58 and bear against the undersurface of the gage plate I65 and theupper surface of the pockets I69. and H5, whereby the gage plate isurged to assume a horizontal position. The pins I55 and IE8 haveshoulders I13 and I'M formed on them for engaging the upper surface ofthe gage plate I65 and are threaded at their lower ends to receiveadjusting nuts H5 and I'IB, whereby the pins I56 and I58 ar held againstmovement upwardly beyond a predetermined adjusted position so that theupper gaging surfaces of the pins may be held normally in alignment withthe pin I5! when the gage assembly is not performing a gaging operation.The extending portion I59 of the gage supporting assembly I43 has ashoulder I formed on it (Fig. 9), which carries a gage reference pin I85adapted to engage the undersurface of the cover plate 91 when the gagesupporting assembly I43 is permitted to move upwardly by the cam rollerI3 and under the action of the springs I59 and I59. Thus, when the gagesupporting assembly I43 is moved upwardly, the gage reference pin I85will strike the cover plate 9'! and prevent further movement of theassembly I 43 upwardly. The actuator rod I55 bears at its lower end on ahearing surface Iii! formed in the assembly I43 and adjacent its upperend the rod I53 is f eely s idable .in a bearing I88 threaded into thebore I55. Intermediate the bearing I38 and the bearing surface I81, theactuator rod I53 has a collar I89 fixed to it by means of a pin I99. Thecollar I89 serves as an abutment against which a compression spring I 9|bears. The spring I 9I sur- I83, I94 and I55, respectively, in theturntable I9, the insulator will be engaged by the pins 65, 61 and 58,which will force it up against the under surface of the cover plate 97.Since the gage plate 565 is held in its upward position by the springsIll and I12, the plate may tilt on the upper end of the actuator rod I53. However, since the three pins I50, I6! and I68 will engage theunder-surface of the insulator, the plate I55 will be depressed withrespect to the gage reference pin I an amount represented by the averageof the displacement of the three pins I55, I6? and 58 with respect tothe gage reference pin I85 and will, accordingly, move the contactactuator I52 if the actuator rod I 53 is pushed down far enough toengage the contact actuator I52. Since the position of the contactactuator I52 may be adjusted by means of the knurled thumb screw I44with respect to the actuator rod I53, the contact making device I44 willhave it's contacts closed only when the insulator being gaged is over apredetermined average thickness throughout its length.

Since the gaging operations progress from oversize insulators I5 throughth thinner insulators to an undersize insulator, it will be understoodthat the contact making device I44 wil1 close its contacts to direct apart into the first receiving magazine 20 in a counter-clockwisedirection from the supply magazine I6 if the part gaged is over apredetermined thickness. The relative position of the contact makindevices I44 with respect to their cooperating actuator rods I53 aroundthe turntable may be regulated in very small increments so that partsmay be accurately gaged by teraction of the cam roller I6 and the camring I5 as the disc 58 is rotated around the central spindle 23. Thestacking rod 20I has a shoulder 202 formed on it, to which there isattached the upper end of a spring 203, whose lower end is attached tothe supporting framework I (Fig. 8) in such a manner that the stackingrod 20I is urged downwardly by the spring 203, tending to hold the camroller I6 in engagement with the cam ring 15. However, the rod 20I has anotch 204 formed in it into which a pawl 205 is urged by a contractilespring 206 and when the pawl 205 is engaged in the notch 204, the rod20I will not bepermitted to drop down to carry the roller I0 intoengagement with the came ring I5, but will be held in an upward positionunless the pawl 205 is rocked about its pivot 20! due to theenergization of a solenoid 208. It will be noted, by reference to Figs.8, 9 and 10 that the contact making device I44 includes a contact pair Ii9 adapted to be closed by the actuator rod I52. The

contact pair I19 is connected by leads I and NH to the solenoid 208and'acurrent source I02, respectively, and the current source and other sideof the winding of the solenoid are connected one to another by a leadI83. There is provided one solenoid 208 at each of the gagin positionsof the apparatus and these solenoids are controlled by the contactmaking device I44 at their associated station and unless the articlebeing gaged at a station is thick enough to depress the actuator rod I53at that station far enough to actuate the contact actuator I52, thestacking rod 20I will be held in is upper position. However, when theinsulator I5 being gaged at the station is of a predetermined thickness,it will operate the contact making device I44 at that station, therebyto permit the stacking rod 20I to drop down and move the roller I6 intoassociation with the cam ring 75. The stacking ro'd 20I carries at itsupper end an insulator lifting plate 209, which has a thickened portionM0 on the edge thereof toward the turn table I9. When the stacking rod20I is held up by the pawl 205, the thickened portion 2I0 of the plate209 will be in the path of the insulator I5 in the slot I8 at thatstation. Therefore, when the blast of air is directed through the hollowspindle 23, insulators in the slots I8 adjacent receiving magazines 20,whose associated stacking rods are in the upper position, will beplugged by the portion 2I0 of the plate 209 and will be prevented frombeing blown into the magazine 20 at these stations. When an insulatorbeing gaged arrives adjacent the receiving magazine 20, to which itshould be directed, the gaging mechanism I4 will gage it and the contactmaking device I44 will close the circuit to the associated solenoid 208and as soon as the solenoid 208 is energized, the stacking rod 20I atthat station will drop down. The timing of the various cams in theapparatus is such that as soon as the stackin rod 20I drops down, theblast of air will be directed through the hollow spindle 23 and willblow the insulator I5 into position above the lifting plate 209 and inposition to be lifted into the magazine 20.

The magazine 20 is quite similar in construction to the magazine I6,which has been described in detail hereinbefore with the exception thatit is provided with means for notching in sulators I5 as they are fedinto position in it and is also provided with means for holding theinsulators in position above the insulator lifting plate 209. As shownmost clearly in Figs. 4, 8 and 10, the receiving magazines 20 each aremounted upon the upper surface of the housing I! by means of brackets 2I5 and 2 I 6. The bracket 2I6 has fixed to it a pair of angle plates 2IIand H8 and the bracket 2I5 has fixed to it a guide plate 2I9 and,similarly, to the magazine I6 there is provided a band 220 for bracingthe upper ends of the angle plates 2II and 2I8 and the guide plate 2I9.Adjacent their lower ends, the angle members ZII and 2I8 have mounted onthem spring pressed catches 222 and 223 mounted on letf springs 224 and225, whereby the catches are normally urged to position to support anyinsulators which have been pushed past them in an upwardly direction, asshown, for example, in Fig. 10. The guide plate 2I9 is provided with asimilar catch 225 and a spring 221, which cooperate with the catches 222and 223.

An insulator I5, which is found to be of the proper gage, and is blowninto position above one of the insulator lifting plates 209, will strikeagainst a soft rubber abutment 228, which will cushion the stopping ofthe insulator in position above the plate 209. The abutment 223 is setinto the lower end of the angle plate 2I'I and when an insulator isejected from one of the slots I8 and into the bottom of one of thereceiving magazines 20, the insulator will rest in the positionillustrated by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 4, where its corners 229and 233 will be in alignment with the inner surfaces of the angle plates2 I8 and 2H, respectively, and its rounded surface 23I will be inalignment with the inner face of the guide plate 2I9. As the cam ring Icontinues in its rotation, an insulator which has been deposited in thebottom of one of the receiving magazines 23 will, at the proper time inthe cycle of the operation of the apparatus, be

lifted by the plate 209 and will be carried up past the catches 222, 223and 226 and lodged by them in position above the plate 289 when theplate 239 is retracted. Mounted on the shoulder 232 of the stacking rodI is a notching punch 232, which is held in place on the shoulder 202 bya locking screw 233. This punch 232 cooperates with a notching die 234mounted upon the upper surface of the housing I? and having a cuttingportion extending through an aperture 235 in the angle plate Ell. Thepunches 232 at each of the receiving magazines 20 are of the sameconstruction and the dies 234 are of the same construction except thateach punch has notches 236 arranged differently in it from any of theother punches and the dies 234 differ only in the number or location ofthe projections 23! which cooperate with the notches 236 in the punches.In this manner, as the insulator lifting plate 299 lifts an insulatorinto its proper magazine 28, the cooperating punch 232 and die 235 atthat magazine will notch the insulator to indicate whether it is underor oversize or one of the acceptable dimensions as controlled by thesetting of the gaging mechanism I4.

In the herein described embodiment of the invention, the insulatorsbeing gaged are acceptable if they range from .013" to .019" in averagethickness in increments of .001" and the gaging mechanisms '54 are setto gage parts of these dimensions. Any insulator I5 which is more than.019" in average thickness will be directed into the first receivingmagazine 23 counterclockwise from the supply magazine I6 (Fig. 1). Thus,insulators which have an average thickness of .019" will be directedinto the second magazine 2!! counter-clockwise from the supply magazineI6, et cetera. Insulators which are under .013 in average thickness willbe directed into the magazine 23 nine places counter-clockwise from thesupply magazine Iii. As the insulators are fed to the various magazines23, in accordance with their average thickness, they will have thenotches 2i, as shown in Fig. 2, cut in them by the cooperating dies andthe position and number of the notches Will identify the particulargroup to which an insulator I5 belongs.

A more complete understanding of the invention may be had by referenceto the following brief description thereof. A supply of insulators I5 ofvarious thicknesses may be placed in the supply magazine I5 and theapparatus started in operation. By reference to Fig. 7, it will be seenthat, in the first part of the cycle of operation, the Geneva gear willindex the turntable I9 and, during this indexing of the turntable, thecam will retract the feedin member I23 to the position shown in Fig. 5preparatory to feeding an insulator I5 into one of the slots I8 in theturntable I9. As soon as the turntable I9 comes to rest, the cam 65 willpermit the spring I35 to rock the lever H3 and shaft IIZcounter-clockwise about the axis of the shaft H2, thereby to advance aninsulator I5 from the bottom of the stack in the supply magazine I6 pastthe soft rubber stripper I3I, which will prevent more than one insulatorfrom being fed into the slot I8. As the cam 65 feeds one insulator I5into the slot I8 aligned with the supply magazine IS, the gaging camring I5 will shift all of the gaging mechanisms I4 upwardly to engageother insulators I5 which may be in the slots I8 at that time alignedwith various ones of the receiving magazine 29. The gage I66, I61 andI68 and the gage reference pin I86 will thus be carried upwardly wherebythe gaging pins will engage the insulators in the various slots I8 andthe gage reference pins I86 will engage the undersurface of the coverplate 91. In this manner, any insulators in the slots I8 will be gagedand their associated contact making devices I44 may close circuits totheir associated solenoids 208. If an insulator I5 is in alignment witha receiving magazine to which it should be directed because of itsthickness, the contact making device I44 at that particular positionwill cause the solenoid 208 associated with it to be energized, therebypermitting the stacking rod 2(3I at that position to drop down and carryits associated cam roller 13 into engagement with the surface of theannular cam I2. When a stacking rod 20! drops down, it will carry theblocking portion 2IB of the insulator lifting plate 209 out of alignmentwith the slot I8 at that position and the air blast controlling cam 31will then become effective to blow the insulator into position above thelifting plate 209. However, those insulators which do not cause thecontact makin device I44 with which they are associated to close itscontacts will be blocked out of the receiving magazines 20 by theportions 2H] of the lifting plates 239 and, therefore, the insulatorswill remain in the slots I8 and will he stepped around with theturntable I9 into association with other of the receiving magazines 20in succession until they arrive at a magazine to which they should betransferred, the cam I2 moving the gage pins to position beneath' theturntable I9 after each gaging operation.

In the first cycle of the operation of the apparatus, those insulatorsI5 which have been transferred into position on the insulator liftingplates 209 will be moved upwardly past the catches 222, 223 and 226associated with the liftin plates 259 on which insulators are at thistime positioned. In moving to position Where they will be held by thecatches 222, 223 and 225, the insulators will have notches out in themthrough the cooperating action of the punch 232 and die 234 at theirrespective stations.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sorting apparatus, a supply magazine for holding a plurality ofarticles to be sorted in accordance with a dimension thereof, aplurality of receiving magazines for receiving sorted artiing a portionof a receiving magazine contoured complementally with respect to anotherportion of the receiving magazineto mark the articles.

2. In a sorting apparatus, a supplymagazine for holding a plurality ofarticles to be sorted, a plurality of receiving magazines for receivingsorted articles having a bottom plate, a turntable for receivingarticles from the supply magazine and carrying them to positionsadjacent the receiving magazines, gaging means adjacent each receivingmagazine for gaging articles on the turntable, means controlled by thegaging means for blowing the articles from the turntable to thereceiving magazines, means at the receiving magazines for supporting thearticles in spaced relation to the bottom plate of the magazine, meansfor reciprocating the bottom plate of the magazine, and means on thebottom plate cooperating with a portion of a magazine for marking thearticles.

3; In a sorting apparatus, a hollow spindle, a turntable rotatable aboutsaid spindle, means cooperating with said turntable to form articleholding compartments, passageways in said last mentioned means incommunication with said spindle, means for directingair under pressurethrough the spindle and passageways tending to eject articles from saidcompartments, means normally positioned to hold articles in saidcompartments, solenoid operated levers for holding said holding means inblocking position with respect to the articles, and solenoidsselectively operable to actuate the solenoid-operated levers and releasethe holding means,

4'. In a sorting apparatus, a hollow spindle, a turntable rotatableabout said spindle, mean cooperating with said turntable to form articleholding compartments, article gaging means for measuring articles Whilein said compartments, passageways in said last mentioned means incommunication with said spindle, means for directing air underpressurethrough the spindle and passageways tending to eject articlesfrom said compartments, blocking means for normally holding the articlesin said compartments, a trip lever normally supporting thelast-mentioned means in position to block the articles, and-a solenoidoperable under control of the article gaging means at each compartmentfor actuating said trip lever to release the blocking means for holdingthe articles in the compartments and to permit them to be blownfrom thecompartments.

5. In a sorting apparatus, a, rotaryarticle carrying means, a supplymagazine for holdingga supply of articles, means for transferringarticles from said magazine to the article carrying means, a pluralityofarticle receiving magazines positioned around saidrotary carrying means,gaging means operable by articles of predetermined dimensions, meansoperable under control of said gaging means for transferring articles toselected ones of ,said receiving magazines to sort the articles, andmeans at each magazine for notching the articles with identifyingnotches corresponding to the receiving magazine, said last-mentionedmeans comprising cooperating marking elements mounted on a magazine andon a part of the transferring means.

6. In a sortingv apparatus, a plurality of gaging devices for gaging thethickness of articles, means for carrying articles to the gagingdevices, means controlled by the gaging devices for selectively blockingmovement of the articles, means movable with the blocking means forreceiving articles, and means at the receiving means operable incooperation with the means movable with the blocking 'means to notch thearticles with identifying notches,

7. In an article sorting apparatus, a plurality of gages for determiningthe average thickness of articles comprising a reference surface meansfor positivelyengaging said reference surface, a plurality of pinsmovable with themeans for engaging the reference surface to engage thearticle being gaged, said pinsbeing resiliently mounted with respect tomeans engaging the reference surfaces, means operable upon apredetermined amount of relative movement between the gaging pins andthe reference surface, a control circuit for controlling movement of thearticles, and means controlled by said last mentioned means foroperating the control circuit.

8; In an article sorting apparatus, a receiving magazine, a reciprocableplate movable to move an article into said magazine, means in saidmagazine for supporting articles in spaced relation "to the bottomthereof, die means supported on'and'movable with. said .plate, and diemeans fixed in said magazine to 'cooperate with the firstmentioned'diemeans to mark an article during its movement into said magazine.

' EINER W. LARSEN.

